1. Scope
1.1 This specification covers plastics and products made from plastics that are designed to biodegrade aerobically when in contact with soil with no adverse impact on the environment by the plastics or its degradation products. Plastics or products made from plastics that need pretreatment such as heat or light to facilitate biodegradation in soil (for example, plastics described in Guide D6954) are within the scope of this specification. However, the following conditions shall be satisfied: (1) pretreatment conditions shall be described (apparatus, irradiation, temperature, humidity, duration, and so forth) including all methods and procedures and ASTM International standards used and (2) both the results obtained with and without pretreatment shall be reported and meet the requirement of this specification. 1.2 The properties in this specification are those required to determine if products (including packaging) will biodegrade to predetermined acceptable limits under controlled test conditions. Further, the properties in the specification are required to assure that biodegradation of these materials will not diminish the value or utility of the soil resulting from the biodegradation process. 1.3 Although results may indicate that the tested plastic material will biodegrade under the after-mentioned test conditions at a certain rate, it is cautioned that the results of any laboratory exposure in this specification cannot be directly extrapolated to soil environments at the actual site of use or disposal since soil properties, local temperatures, and humidity ranges shall be considered as they vary widely with geography. Real-world testing is required to establish a correlation with laboratory methods. 1.4 Units--The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard. 1.5 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. NOTE 1-No equivalent ISO specifications exist for this standard. NOTE 2-OK Biodegradable Soil standard by Vincotte is similar to this standard except the allowance of pretreatment.
Plastics that are biodegradable in soil have many applications such as erosion control, horticulture, agriculture, and so forth. The great value of these products is that they are applied in a natural environment and no effort is needed to remove them after use. There is an increasing demand from the marketplace to differentiate such soil-biodegradable plastics and ensure that plastics used for such applications are safe for the environment.
Keywords
plastics; soil biodegradable; biodegradable
The title and scope are in draft form and are under development within this ASTM Committee.
Citing ASTM Standards
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